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JanusParticipantDear Anita
I was reading “How LGBTQI+ Groups in Zimbabwe Fight for Change and the Right to Political Participation” on how activists are campaigning for equality.
Mojalifa Ndlovu is an openly gay man who travels 250 miles to attend Gays and Lesbians Association of Zimbabwe (GALZ) to discuss the rights of LGBTQI+ people. The coalition provides a safe space for individuals to meet.
Mojalifa has experienced threats like having unknown cars following him home. And I Zimbabwe same-sex relationships are not allowed.
He is an outspoken activist for LGBTQI+ rights stating “To achieve meaningful and lasting change, we believe first in harnessing individual and collective self-determination, voice, agency, and empowerment of marginalized, vulnerable, and key populations. We believe it is when they are empowered, they are capable of challenging and redressing the deep-rooted inequalities and inequities that predispose them to multiple vulnerabilities.”
By providing safe spaces where LGBTQI+ people can gather and talk about things can provide a sense of mental health support and acceptance. It takes a small amount of individuals to change the world and no matter how difficult it may seem there is always light in the darkness. One candle can make the darkness brighter.
If a person who identifies as LGBTQI+ is in a place where they might not be safe, there are resources out there for them.
JanusParticipantDear Wittly
I like your practicing self-compassion tips.
I tend to beat myself up sometimes and taking a break to be mindful allowing myself to relax and remind myself that I’m okay helps.
JanusParticipantDear Wittly
Thanks for sharing your self-care tips article.
I have an inner critic that I’m still working on healing things from. Taking time for self-care and not overworking, acknowledging the feelings helps us heal. Hugs.
JanusParticipantDear Anita
Thanks for sharing the thread Urgent: I have a Crush on my female Boss. Is she into me?”
I like the news resources you shared in the forum about LGBTQ+ people and safety. I feel that it takes a small group of individuals to change the world one step at a time. But it can still be difficult in places like Islamic Middle East with Sharia laws that forbid LGBTQ+ people and countries in Africa. Safety is very important. There have been many LGBTQ+ people who have had private relationships in places where there’s persecution. Although hiding who they are can be hard at times, sometimes it’s good to protect ourselves. Maybe with time people in countries that forbid LGBTQ+ people can seek asylum in other accepting countries.
January 8, 2023 at 11:55 am in reply to: Urgent: I have a Crush on my female Boss. Is she into me? #413457JanusParticipantDear Swanky
There are 69 countries where it’s illegal to identify as LGBTQ+ (Thanks Anita for sharing the resources). If you are in a country where you might be fired from your workplace, face discrimination or might experience physical harm then it’s important to think safety first. I agree with Anita on her advice about maybe sometime at lunch asking your Boss what she thinks about same-sex relationships. I would approach things slowly like you said becoming good friends with her and getting to know each other better. LGBTQ+ people do not choose who they love or how they identify, they just are and they’re valid for it.
Going off what Helcat said about having control in relationships, I believe that people do have control in how they act in relationships. LGBTQ+ people do not have choices on who they love or how they identify and it’s okay and valid for you to have feelings for your Boss who is female. But you have control over your actions so it’s important that you keep things indiscreet because if rumors start in the workplace it could be detrimental to your safety. Maybe get to know each other better, if you like her personality and feel you two truly connect maybe invite her to a place where it’s safe to talk about things.
JanusParticipantDear Anita
I find that having peace of mind, and spiritual fulfillment is better than all the material things in the world. I believe that the world changes a little at a time, but doesn’t change quickly. Learning to be at peace with oneself, healing helps create one more light in the world. That one more light makes the glow brighter. Dr. Dillon was a pioneer for trans people helping raise awareness that there’s people outside the gender binary. Sometimes just being yourself and finding your spiritual purpose inspires others.
JanusParticipantDear Anita
It’s great that you read some parts of the book 📖. Dr. Dillon was a transgender pioneer who paved the way for other trans folks in the world. I believe Dr. Dillon became a physician to help others who struggled with their gender identity but since it was very difficult for him during his time to find community he sought spiritual meaning in life.
I feel this passage from the Editors’ Introduction speaks strongly to me : ” There is nothing for man in this world, but conquest of his mind, of the way he takes the world in all its absurdities and pompous imaginations. What is it the Work teaches? ‘Remember in this secret is, in this Teaching, not to try to change external circumstances because if you do not change yourself and the way you take the repeating events of life, everything will recur in the same way. As long as you remain as you are in yourself you will attract the same problems, same difficulties, same situation but if you change yourself your life will change. ‘ And, ‘you cannot reform the world, you can only reform your way of taking the world’. ”
Out of the Ordinary : A life of gender and spiritual transitions
I feel this is very powerful insight. Michael Dillon/Jivaka was hurt in his workplaces as a transgender male and he sought acceptance in a Buddhist monastery. I think in his spiritual path, he gained better understanding and awareness of his mind and better control so he could make decisions on his physical transition.
The editors note that Out of the Ordinary autobiography was divided into two parts: Conquest of the body and Conquest of the mind.
I believe that in his transition Dr. Dillon found peace of mind, finally belonging in a body that matched how his mind identified as. He realized that he couldn’t change the world or make all people accept him, he could only be true to himself and explore how to build himself up.
JanusParticipantDear Anita
Michael Dillon was born Laura Maura Dillon on May 1st 1915 in the UK. Growing up Michael Dillon was very uncomfortable with his gender identity and experienced gender dysphoria, feeling more comfortable dressing as a man. It was very difficult for him to seek resources during this time.
He was the first transgender man to receive testosterone and gender affirming surgery to construct a penis (phalloplasty).
At age 24 he received testosterone hormones from Dr. George Foss. He medically transitioned and legally changed from Laura Maura Dillon to Laurence Michael Dillon in 1939.
During 1942 in Bristol, England, Dr. Foss referred Michael Dillon to Harold Gillies, a plastic surgeon who helped Dillon with a phalloplasty.
After WWII ended in 1945, Michael Dillon completed his studies in Bristol becoming a prominent physician and pioneer in transgender history. Dr. Dillon’s most significant achievement is his book “A study in ethics and endocrinology” which provided medical doctors with care guidelines on how to treat trans patients today.
In 1958, the Daily Express news in the UK realized there was a discrepancy in the person listed as “Laura Dillon” in the aristocratic class and Michael Dillon. Michael Dillon protested that he had long identified as a male and that he still had valid lineage to the aristocratic line of his parents. However he was unsuccessful and discriminated against so he fled to India and became a Buddhist monk. He was the first British person to be ordained as a monk taking the name Jivaka. He felt accepted as a monk but his visa expired so he was forced to leave India.
On May 1, 1962 he completed his autobiography about his transition from female to male and how happy he felt as a transmale. He mailed the autobiography in an envelope and it was long unpublished but never lost. The autobiography titled “Out of the Ordinary: A life of gender and spiritual transitions” arrived from India to the desk of the publisher John Johnson in London where it was finally published in 2017.
Michael Dillon’s death cause is unknown since he died at the age of 47 in Dalhousie hospital. Some people speculate he might have been poisoned since no one in his family seemed to have accepted his transition.
Alex Ashcroft, “Michael Dillon: the 2 laws which could have saved him” Feb. 18th 2021 lgbtlawyers.co.uk
Michael Dillon “Out of the Ordinary: A Life of Gender and Spiritual Transitions” 2017 transreads.org
JanusParticipantDear Anita
Elliot Page, born Feb. 21 1987 in Canada took an interest in acting at a young age. His first local production in fifth grade, Pit Pony received a Gemini nomination (analogous to the U.S. Emmy Awards) for great actors.
At the Time to THRIVE conference in Feb. 2014 addressing lgbtq rights, Elliot Page came out as gay.
In 2015, Page began hosting Gaycation featuring lgbtq people around the world.
Dec. 1st 2020 Elliot Page came out as transgender and became the first transmale to be featured on Time magazine in March 2021.
Elliot Page is thriving and glad that he transitioned to be more fully his authentic self.
“Elliot Page” biography.com
JanusParticipantDear Anita
It started snowing 🌨 at 1pm EST today. However, the snow will turn to rain later today and snow accumulations will be less than 0.5 inches.
Most precipitation in the air starts as snow, these snowflakes ❄ develop high in the atmosphere where the temperature is below 32⁰F. The weather currently is 34⁰F so the ground level temperature is above 32⁰F. The falling snow passes through the freezing layer (above the ground level) and comes into contact with warm air that melts the snow producing rain.
“Rain or Snow” 2010.atmos.uiuc.edu
JanusParticipantDear Anita hope that you have a great holiday season.
Thanks for all your comments on things, your insights are appreciated
JanusParticipantDear Anita
I feel like incorporating lgbtq history in social studies can help students build awareness on lgbtq people paving the way for more inclusivity. Elton John who wrote “Candle in the Wind” song that was played as a tribute to Princess Diana was an open advocate of lgbtq rights and identified as gay. Alan Turing played a major role in cracking German codes in WWII and was a computer developer and mathematician; he was persecuted for being gay. Elliot Page, a Canadian actor known for films “Inception,” “Juno,” and “X-men: last stand” came out as a trans male. Michael Dillon was a physician and the first trans male to undergo a phalloplasty (when surgeons take donor tissue usually from forearm to construct a penis).
Learning about famous people in history with different sexualities and gender identities can help students understand that there is nothing wrong with identifying as lgbtq and that lgbtq people are part of society too. They have feelings and contributions.
JanusParticipantDear Anita
I like how you mentioned everything is physical because everything can be experienced through the body. If a person is feeling mental health stresses like depression and anxiety long term then physical health declines too. Depression can impact sleep patterns leading to fatigue, memory fog, irritability, intense sadness and headaches and muscle pains. Anxiety can cause feelings of nausea, fatigue, headaches, digestive upsets. Since emotions are energy in motion processed by the mind and the heart, sometimes emotions like anxiety speed up our heart rates and send signals to the mind that we are stressed. The sympathetic nervous system kicks into action which triggers rise in releasing of hormone cortisol. Long-term stress increases risk for heart disease and stroke. That’s why mental health and relieving stressful emotions is helpful in promoting physical health.
JanusParticipant“Ask a gender therapist” by Dara Hoffman-Fox youtube videos
many videos about transgender identity.
Paraphrasing from one of Dara’s videos : “If you feel comfortable expressing yourself as the opposite gender from the biological sex that you were born as and it makes you happy, then you are transgender. There is no right or wrong way to be transgender and it’s great to explore what makes you most comfortable.”
Jamidodger, trans guy youtube videos are very entertaining and helpful😄
JanusParticipantSome trans resources I found
“Transgender Resources” American Bar Association
“Transgender Resources” glaad.org
“Trans Resources” ok2bme.ca
i like their explanation about transgender people and transitioning.“Family Support: Resources for Families of Transgender & Gender Diverse Children”
lgbtmap.org“Nationwide Trans Resources” lamdalegal.org
i love lambda legal resources. i think that they explain pro bono quite well because some trans people can get free court sessions to legally change their name.“Transgender” pflag.org
i’ve used this site from time to time to find trans and lgbtq communities to connect withTrans Lifeline
trans people can text or call for mental health support to have someone to talk toTrevor Project
lgbtq people can call or text for mental health support
i’ve gotten better communication with texting using this source.glsen.org
lgbtq communityCallhimhunter
this site has ally parents for trans people to talk to.PointofPride
a binder site for transmales to apply to get on waitlist for free binder, usually waiting time is two yearsGc2b
a great site for trans and nonbinary people to get bindersMy gender workbook by Kate Bornstein about transcending gender expectations, there’s free pdf versions online
“Some Assembly Required” by Arin Andrews a book about a transmale transitioning
“Trans bodies, trans selves” by Laura Erickson-Schroth
a resource for the trans community. it has great information but uses outdated term “transsexual” which is no longer used and has been replaced with transgender to mean a person whose gender identity doesn’t match their birth sex.“At the broken places: a mother and trans son pick up the pieces” by Mary Collins and David Collins
i loved this book, it was deeply moving and inspiringTransgender- Dysphoric and Proud by RCsLongDay youtube video
I’m trans- a coming out song 🎵 by Insane_Bookworm youtube video
Degrassi- adam torres (if i were a boy) song 🎵 by Benjamin Reyna youtube video
deeply moving video and lyrics, i loved adam torres from degrassi. i felt he portrayed how i felt lost in dysphoria.
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